planet-eating trees and other desert things

a planet-eating tree. in sudan!

i don't know why, exactly, but ever since i read 'the little prince,' i've been obsessed with baobab trees. baobabs are these amazingly gnarled, hulking trees that, at least according to the little prince, can make quick work of a small planet.

'a baobab,' the story goes, ' is something you will never, never be able to get rid of if you attend to it too late. it spreads over the entire planet. it bores clear through it with its roots. and if the planet is too small, and the baobabs are too many, they split it in pieces ...'

after you've read that, it's sort of impossible to pass up a picnic in a dried river bed lined with them.

(we saw a caravan of camels, too.)


first sighting of a planet-eating tree. my friend was slightly less impressed than i was. slightly.


the sun setting over the planet-eating trees.


planet-eating tree trunk.


planet-eating branches.


a caravan of camels near the planet-eating trees.


heidi photographs the caravan leaders.


water bottles make pretty good impromptu drums. this happens a lot in sudan. no joke.